Ninian Moonrest
Ninian Emirelda Moonrest Ninian Moonrest is a Thalassian Spymistress in service to the Kingdom of Quel'thalas and the Blood Knight Order. Trained formally as a Horde Spymaster and having proven her loyalties to the Quel'thalas' governing body in a period of crisis, Ninian has been given leave to operate with relative autonomy in her means and mode of serving Silvermoon's interests. Appearance A woman appearing to be in her late twenties or early thirties by human standards. Ninian Moonrest stands on the short end of average height compared to most Sin'dorei, her body lean and lithe. Though most typically hidden beneath a cloak or cowl, her hair is a deep red akin to a Thalassian autumn, eyes the Light-touched gold attributed to the restored Sunwell. Her right eye bears a distinct, though difficult to notice damage to the iris, a pale scar running vertical and overlapping just slightly with her upper eyelid. Even when alone, Ninian smiles easily; a small smile that is neither warm nor condescending. Whether serious, sincere or on edge, the expression rarely leaves her face. Even more seldom does her smile reach her eyes. Mannerisms Ninian wears mild expressions, never straying too far from her typical small smile for more than a moment. Her eyes, sharp and yet ebbing on a sleepy vacancy, as well as the soft-spoken tones of her voice may portray a low-energy individual. This woman's movements are fluid and light as evident by her step and stance. Upon closer inspection however, one might detect her body sinking a bit when she places weight on her left side. The Past "It is an easy thing, I think, to spurn our personal histories of short-sightedness, negligence, and regret. But we are also the people we are today precisely because of who we were." Niniann Moonrest was born to a family of Ley Keepers deep in the forests of Quel'Thalas. While this fact is of public record, there are few remaining if any who might verify it. The earliest traces of Ninian's life were erased during the Third War in the Scourge invasion, accounts of her family known only in living memory. Instead, current records of the Silvermoon Registry note old reports of a thief and mugger of some small renown among the Silvermoon Guardians. Swift and agile, the young girl would ambush merchants and small bands of travelers in search of gold, food, and other provisions in secretly or by blade-point, in various locations across Eversong. Though brandish weapon, she was a flighty thief, choosing most often to escape from the sparse few Guardians Silvermoon could spare during the time or less intimidated victims who would draw their weapons in return. Beyond a handful of close calls, the light-footed girl was not so skilled in thievery as she was at identifying an easy mark or a number of escape routes. The life of a thief is far from a stable one however. Seasons grow cold, merchants grow scare, and patrols grow ever cautious of common threats. The girl's windows of opportunity became increasingly limited, forcing her into riskier ploys as the lack of food, money, and necessary supplies remained ever demanding. Ninian's attacks became bold in correlation to her needs, ambushing risky targets and groups larger than her preference. On a particular night at the peek of a long and unsuccessful string of mugging attempts, Ninian came across a pair of travelers, a Blood Knight and a second figured in a cloak, both visibly armed with weapons more suited to battle than protection. This fact alone would usually have dissuaded her, but the girl drew her dagger out of confidence in the small group and desperation for her own plight. The girl had only the time to bark half of her threat before the smaller of the two figures closed the distance almost immediately, lowering their body, charging on feet far lighter than Ninian's and divesting her of the dagger with a single upwards sweep of her a long thin blade. Ninian fell to the ground, wide-eyed and still trying to process the disparity in skill. Before she could speak however, the cloaked figure whom had utterly defeated her, a woman with long dark hair and a kind face, sheathed her blade and offered her a hand as her unofficial induction. The Shadowblade Syndicate "More than anything, I coveted her eyes. They seemed like they might know everything." The Shadowblade Syndicate, an organization originally founded as a group of highly trained assassins and intelligence agents in service to the Crimson Circle, the governing council of Silvermoon City's Magestry, Farstriders and Blood Knights, but later withdrawn from the majority of the governing bodies in order to eliminate the Thalassian internal corruption by their own accord; the order became Ninian's home. Coming into the fold during the time of the organization's second head and the woman whom had deftly ended her days of robbing travelers, Spymistress Emirelda Ishnu'alar, Ninian found both structure in life and encouragement in her talents for the first time since her earliest youth. Though she was surrounded by spies and assassins, it was a constructive and purpose-driven environment. Brought into the order's hidden manor in the southern marches of Quel'Thalas' mountain ranges, Ninian began her years of honing and conditioning. Ninian was taken under Emirelda's personal tutelage and was trained vigorously. Tracking, stealth, eavesdropping, training swordsmanship, gauntlets, martial arts, building resistance to poisons, interrogation, and mental suggestion. Even beyond this conventional skills, Ninian was expected to study geography, history, etiquette, dance, and all manner of skills. What began with respect for the flash of a blade quickly grew to admiration. Emirelda was pointedly skilled in the crafts expected of a former Alliance Infiltrator, but beyond that, she was deeply compassionate, introspective, and driven towards the well-being of the future of Quel'Thalas. The girl devoted herself fully to her training and her Mistress, building slowly the foundation of her skills and ideals. Her time in the manor was not spent in any spectacular fashion, but Ninian found peace in training with other members of the order, walking the streets of Silvermoon for information, and learning to tinker and build with Juriel Sukoth, the Blood Knight from Ninian's last instance ambushing travelers for coin. By night she would train with Emirelda, sharpening her mind and inheriting the woman's techniques in all manners of speaking. To Ninian, this woman was not only her mentor, but something akin to a mother, gentle and thoughtful, but always pushing. The girl endeavored tirelessly to meet those expectations. The Horde "I will not deny you of this training, should that be your wish, but realize and consider the weight of your decision. You may no longer be 'you' by the time we finish." As the Sin'dorei aligned themselves with the Horde, a great upheaval among the guiding systems and integrity the Thalassian people had known as Quel'dorei followed suite. Intent on joining the new hierarchy of the status quo, Ninian's work in service to the Crimson Circle privileged her the opportunity to train formally as a Horde Spymaster. Though a precarious position under both the jurisdiction of Silvermoon's Crimson Circle and the Shattered Hand as a show of cooperation between Quel'Thalas' new allies, she had already become a seasoned operative. Her mind had been well trained to resist incursion, she, likely many other Spymasters, found the most taxing aspect of the training to be the strain of taking another's thoughts unto oneself. To be bombarded with thoughts foreign to your own. The girl, who despite everything had always remained brash and bright, dampened under that weight and withdrew into herself. Although her temperament changed, wary and searching with an intensity far exceeding her already cautious take, the girl found comfort in the same places. At Emirelda Ishnu'alar's side, she had become a well regarded member and decisive young woman of the order. Despite the strain of her Spymaster training, there was peace to be had in learning, walking, and crossing blades with her mistress. It was in these final years Ninian was able to inherit more of Emirelda's talents and ideology than the entirety of her time since joining. Her training however was never seen through to the end. The Scourge "The first time we take a life, there is something primal, instinctual inside of us, that recognizes our own mortality. It will paralyze you utterly. And then it will leave you forever." Between rumors and her own investigations on the matter, Ninian would personally confirm a number of attacks and assassinations of not only various informants of the order's information network, but a number of their own trained operatives. Delicate work was a dangerous business for those involved, but the attacks were quick and targeted. The assailant had an intimate knowledge of the order's inner workings. Stating this leak had been the product of recent involvement with Silvermoon's Magestry, a message to cease all operations and return to the manor immediately was issued to all Shadowblades regardless of assignment. Far from Eversong, Ninian would return at once, though significantly later than most. Speeding through the southern marches of Quel'Thalas, she would arrive at the manor only to meet the irony stench of blood and the sight of her slaughtered companions, cut down without reprieve. Had the young woman taken the time to examine the scene, the strokes these men and woman had been pared by, she might have been able to prepare for what awaited her further inside. Overcome by fear, she instead trained every honed sense on anything but the dead her hand tightened around the hilt of her sword and the young woman tread into the manor's interior, desperate to find some sign of life. Forgoing the bodies, not even stopping to identify the head, Ninian enter a study to find Emirelda kneeling over a pair of cloaked bodies, seeing her from behind. Sheathing her blade and calling out to her mistress, the young woman would walk over to the in haste, deeply relieved to have found the woman safe. Ninian uttered only a syllable, the start of her frantic report, before Emirelda spun to face her and pressed her long blade forward. The weapon had pierced Ninian's stomach, but she made no sound. The young woman would only stumble back a few steps dislodging the sword, processing the scene as slowly as the first night Emirelda had disarmed her dagger. Her face wore nothing but horrific shock. She spoke again to question her mistress, but the woman widened her stance for a second strike, now poised to be lethal. Instinctively, evaded the attack, her hand rising to the hilt of her own blade, but she hesitated to draw it. Emirelda's third strike cut neither fatal, nor shallow. Ninian could see now, beneath the woman's cowl, a set of vacant red eyes. The unmistakable eyes of the fallen rangers during the Third War. Those raised from death to turn on their people. Emirelda opened the footing, but before she could put her stance to use, Ninian took flight through the study window, shattering the glass and tumbling down the rocky slopes of the southern march. The girl ran, though without a pursuer. Emirelda would go on to kill many more that night. Emirelda "The dead want for naught. To 'act in their stead', or 'strive for their sake' is nothing short of conceit. Though even knowing it to be so, I don't think I could allow it to have been for nothing." From an abandoned home in Eversong, Ninian would tend her wounds. Though she refused sleep at first, her body, exhausted physically and mentally, took it. The young woman slept for the better part of two days, donning her cloak on the third with a resolve far from renewed, but with a need for answers. Many of the people she had grown alongside of had either been killed or gone into hiding. In many cases, it was impossible to know which. Emirelda who had crafted the order's secure system of informants and overseen the training of it's operatives knew too well how to dismantle it. With that information she had gleaned from the few she found, Ninian was able to anticipate her mistress' next set of targets and set a trap, luring Emirelda deep into the Ghostlands. The two met and broke into feverish combat. Emirelda was no mindless undead, giving autonomy over all but her will as to retain the skills, tactics, intimate knowledge of her once allies and subordinates. Ninian knew she could not prevail in straight combat however. Not for lack of confidence in skill, but the product of a shared fighting style she had inherited from her mistress. The technique used a cunningly simple mental technique designed not to cloud the opponent's sense, but to open oneself to the enemy and use their now hypersensitive battle prowess against them, causing the foe to interpret a string of consecutive strikes in the same instant. The technique was strong, but woefully useless against a stronger practitioner of the same style. Instead, Ninian had rigged all manner of traps through the forest: slings of throwing blades, triggerable explosive traps, and other ploys to control the flow of her opponent's movement. This opponent had taught her to use these tactics however and the battle became a deadly match of attempting to out maneuver the other and land a decisive blow. Realizing an opening in Emirelda's guard, Ninian struck, but only after a moment of hesitation. That moment proved potent enough for the master to evade and riposte her student, Ninian's blade carrying her mistress' cloak, the owner of which had deftly slipped out and poised a thrust with her long blade. Unable to evade, the sword tore open her right eye. Ninian let out a divisive shriek, dropping her blade to clutch her eye. As blood poured through her fingers, Emirelda stood over her, resting her blade over her subordinate's shoulder. Poised to strike, the Dark Ranger would instead recoil, hit with a bolt of Light from behind, consecrating her undead skin. Juriel, one of the few remaining members of the order, stood gathering for a barrage of holy bolts, forcing Emirelda to retreat. Ninian would only recognize his figure the moment before losing conscientiousness. Some time later that evening, Ninian would awaken in the forest to find her wounds healed both by Light and conventional means, albeit poorly. The man sitting before her was no healer and he vision in her bandaged right eye was gone. After exchanging words of parting, the two downcast and defeated, Juriel strode off in search of the one whom had turned Emirelda, though Ninian would never learn what became of him. Instead, she took her blade, but left the sheath behind. The battle was one she could not win, so she strode forward with a new plan in mind as well as the resolve, or cowardice, to see it through. Coming across Emirelda, the two would exchange words just briefly, Ninian's previously distraught expressions replaced now by a somber one of acceptance. As the two clashed blades, the Ninian could not help but reflect. Every experience, every lesson, every moment with the woman she had for so long admired. The lack of depth perception would have mattered in any other fight, but young woman who had been so hesitant to strike down her mistress used it, perhaps involuntarily, to draw in closer than she might have and strike with abandon. For years, she had been trained to prioritize defense and return without injury. Even in her state of undeath, Emirelda still fought on those principals as well. With no other option, Ninian would set the stage for a simultaneous strike, opening her defense to take her mistress' blade while using the opening for her own fatal attack. The two lunged, Ninian revealed the flaw in her guard, and Emirelda would be quick to respond. In anticipation, she shifted into the attack and the two plunged their blades towards one another. To Ninian, everything seemed quiet. The young woman had shut out everything from her mind but her attack. It would take her a moment to grasp the outcome. Her sword had pierced through her mistress' heart without fail. Ninian however, had no matching wound to show. Instead, Emirelda's blade would fall to the ground, having been dropped after diverting from its original path into Ninian's heart, leaving only a small cut across her side. The weight of the moment washed over her and the two fell to their knees. Emirelda spoke her final words, her tone no longer the gripped by another, and fell lifelessly to the ground. Having accepted her own death, being living came as no solace. She had been undoubtedly outmatched and at the disadvantage. Shaking violently and covered in Emirelda's blood, Ninian could only embrace the woman's body, weeping and for her beloved mistress.' ' The Blood Knights ' ' "I used to admire those who could press forward no matter the grief. A show of strength, I thought. But to stop and reevaluate if forward is the way to stride: I believe that requires far more strength." ' ' Ninian was commemorated by the Crimson Circle for her victory over a 'dangerous threat' with a near unprecedented level of autonomy for one in her line of work. She was free to pursue her service towards Quel'Thalas in whatever manner she saw fit. Had she not, the woman's grief might have been misdirected towards her people, but she instead took the time to herself. Ninian would grieve for a long while. Even later in life, the pain of that night would still feel fresh. She completed her formal training as a Spymaster, perhaps earning the title of the first Thalassian Spymistress and set out in search of old comrades and informants to the Shadowblades. The woman would choose to devote her skills to her mistress' ideals, investing the whole of herself into the future of Quel'Thalas, evaluating it's governing bodies, both official and criminal, to forming an interconnected web of informants and operatives. Resolved on her goal, she would soon come across Knight-Lord Leon Dawnblade and his Blood Knight regiment. While this had not been her first meeting with the man, having been assigned to rooting out some of his corrupt Blood Knights in the past around the time the man was first named Knight-Lord, Ninian offered her services to the Order under his command. There was purpose in man, strength in the influence he wielded, but most importantly, a great deal of Silvermoon's major players converging around the Order at the time. While her work began as an open agent working under the agenda of Knight-Lord Dawnblade, Ninian would eventually be inducted into the Order, much to the chagrin of many Blood Knights both within and outside of the Dawnblade Regiment. She rose through the ranks quickly on her skill set, assisting the Knights with their arrests, patrols, training, and as the head examiner of the Knight-Master Trials. It would not belong before she rose to the upper echelons of the Order, becoming the fourth of the long established three division heads, founding the Blood Knight Intelligence Division. Although the division brought event greater scrutiny towards Dawnblade's internal workings, the operatives Ninian trained would go on to serve the Order well with the dignity of proper Knights. Though the Dawnblade Regiment has disband, Ninian is still recognized as a member of the Order in good standing, recognized by both allies and enemies of Quel'Thalas. Category:Sin'dorei Category:Horde